FORT LAUDERDALE: City Criminalizes Feeding The Homeless, Citations Issued

Via Fort Lauderdale's Sun-Sentinel:

Uniformed police shut down an effort to provide lunch to scores of homeless in Stranahan Park on Sunday, enforcing a law passed recently that puts new limits on outdoor feeding sites. At least three people were cited for violating the new ordinance, including two members of the clergy and a 90-year-old advocate who has handed out food to the homeless for more than 20 years. Arnold Abbott, who heads the group Love Thy Neighbor, said he had served only three or four of about 300 meals he had prepared when police ordered him to stop. Abbott, the Rev. Mark Sims, of St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs, and the Rev. Dwayne Black, pastor of The Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale, were each cited for willfully violating a city ordinance. Police issued them notices to appear in court, where they could be asked to explain their actions. The ordinance, approved by the city commission Oct. 22, is one of several recent efforts by officials to crack down on the city's burgeoning downtown homeless population.

The law was signed by the city's Democratic mayor. (Tipped by JMG reader Joel)